By LINDSEY GRUSON

Published: September 16, 1993

In the history books, Monday will go down as the moment when bitter enemies allowed the yearning for peace to triumph over their enduring enmity. But for millions of aficionados of video games, it was something more: "Mortal Monday," the breathlessly awaited moment when a bloody but wildly popular arcade game came into American homes.

"I only wish it could have been Friday so I could have played it all weekend," said Michael Morgan, 15, a 10th-grade student from Oyster Bay, L.I., who spent almost all his vacation money on the arcade version of the game. "There's nothing close. It's the best video game I've ever played."

The game, "Mortal Kombat," is more coveted, at least by legions of teen-agers and other video-game addicts, than one of the precious seats at Monday's signing of the historic accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Carnage, and Debate

"We have been deluged with calls from consumers around the globe," said Sam Goldberg, the vice president for marketing at the manufacturer, Acclaim Entertainment Inc., which is based in Oyster Bay.

The demand, which ignited 70,000 desperate calls to the company this year, has been so overwhelming that Acclaim set up a national system of advance reservations for the program, which is expected to sell at least 2 million copies.

Along with the demand, and almost certainly propelling it, is a debate about the game's remarkably realistic carnage -- and warnings to parents that the game might be acceptable for teen-agers but too graphic for younger players to handle.

"Mortal Kombat" comes in two versions -- with or without extreme violence; what players choose depends on what game system they have at home.

Both versions give the victor a "fatality move," a much cherished chance to kill. The gorier program also provides the thrill of humiliating the loser by bare-handedly ripping out his still beating heart or tearing off his life-like head and triumphantly holding it aloft, the spinal cord dangling from its neck. The price of this violence: from $35 to $75, depending on the program.

"It's the best" said Wilson Hung, 16, an 11th-grader from Oyster Bay. Among his favorite moves, he says, is "punching" an enemy off a ledge and watching him become impaled on a sharpened spike. The most gratifying moment, he finds, comes at one of the final moves when he can electrocute his opponent.

While the carnage remains cartoonish, many of the images are exceptionally realistic because they are made from digitized video footage of actors and martial artists. Gore and Glory

Mr. Hung and legions of other fans dismiss concerns about the violence in the game, which they describe as a melange of myth and fantasy brought to a boil by action. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago -- according to the program's legend -- Shang Tsung became the Grand Champion of the Shaolin Tournament for Martial Arts. But he was cursed by the gods, who required him to take his opponents' souls as well as their lives.

He was ultimately overthrown by Kung Lao, a noble and mighty Shaolin monk. But Tsung survived, returning, embittered, many years later to set up a fight between Lao and an extraterrestrial, Goro. Goro had the advantage of four muscular arms -- as well as great size, speed and strength -- and defeated Lao. And so the tournament's respectable era ended and the time of "Mortal Kombat" began.

The game has been No. 1 in arcades for a year. And Acclaim fanned its popularity into a international frenzy with the most aggressive campaign for a single product in the company's history. The $10 million blitz features rock-video-style trailers in 1,600 theaters, prime-time television commercials, print ads, promotional giveaways and a national sweepstakes. It all culminated earlier this week with "Mortal Monday," the largest single-day multi-format release of a video game ever.

"It was phenomenal," said Jeffrey Griffiths, vice president and general merchandising manager for Electronic Boutique, one of the largest software chains in the country, with 340 stores nationwide. "It was the largest new release we've ever had."

The best-selling version has been the program for Sega Genesis and Game Gear equipment. It remains true to the arcade game and comes complete with the most graphic sequences -- although it carries the company's rating of MA-13, a suggestion from its own group of reviewers that the game is appropriate for those 13 or older.

The most explicit moves are missing from the version being offered by Nintendo. The company, which in 1986 set strict limits on its programs' nudity, profanity, sexual violence and graphic illustrations of death, has removed the most explicit moves. Effect of Violence

The exceptionally realistic violence has set off a new debate about how young people are affected by the violence that they see in popular culture.

"It moves violence into a new area of the media spectrum," noted Parker V. Page, president of San Francisco's Children's Television Resource and Education Center, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving children's social development.

There has been almost no research on the impact of interactive games on children. Mr. Page and other critics say they presume that the more realistic the picture, the greater the impact.

"The higher the levels of realism, the more likely children will internalize it and imitate it," he said.

But Robert Holmes, the president of Acclaim, said he thought the criticism of his product was premature and misdirected.

"We're certainly not in the realm of creating film-quality realism," he said. "We're dealing with A, a fantasy; B, entertainment, and C, an audience that goes well beyond the young child. The hue and cry about a 6-year-old being confused is inappropriate. You have to assume that a 6-year-old has $70 to $75 and can get in his or her car and go to the mall and buy it. That's a fantasy that's even more unlikely."

Photos: "There's nothing close. It's the best video game I've ever played," said Michael Morgan, 15, who spent most of his vacation money playing the arcade version of "Mortal Kombat." He waited his turn at a delicatessen in Oyster Bay, L.I. (Eric Michelson for The New York Times) (pg. B1); "Mortal Kombat," a video game with realistic carnage, went on sale this week and the Oyster Bay, L.I., company that makes it hopes to sell 2 million copies. A poster advertised the game at a midtown store. (Carrie Boretz for The New York Times); A decapitated head held aloft, an optional gesture of triumph, signals the end of the game. (Eric Michelson for The New York Times) (pg. B8)